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USC vs. UConn Recap: Paige Buckets Shines in Emphatic Win
SportsGrid
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4/1/2025
Category
🥇
Sports
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00:00
USC, UConn, 78-64, what an upsetting time because Paige Buckets has been fantastic in this tournament.
00:07
Juju Watkins would have been fantastic in this tournament.
00:11
What a game we would have had last night, but you got to credit UConn.
00:15
Look, nobody feels bad for USC. You got to win and move on.
00:17
UConn did that in impressive fashion last night, Coach.
00:20
Yeah, I've been on UConn pretty much the better part of the last two months
00:24
because I just kind of felt that at some point they were just going to turn it on.
00:28
I mean, people need to realize when she was a freshman,
00:32
they weren't talking about Kaitlyn Clark.
00:34
They were talking about Paige Beckers.
00:36
And this is a Paige Beckers that has battled injuries.
00:39
This is a team that lost AZ-FUD last year to an injury.
00:43
You bring in Sarah Strong, who's the best freshman in the country.
00:48
And no wonder why, and especially that 30-point beatdown that they went down
00:53
and gave South Carolina about three weeks ago.
00:55
They moved to the favorites to win the cut down on that.
00:58
It's a shame that we didn't have Juju last night.
01:01
It really is.
01:02
Because the NCAA Women's Tournament, they do a lot of things wrong, okay?
01:08
Number one, having only two regional sites
01:11
is the dumbest damn idea that I've ever heard of, right?
01:14
You got press conferences for after one team's winning,
01:18
the other team that's playing the next day, they're in a press conference.
01:22
So that's dumb.
01:23
The other thing that they did, and we saw it last year,
01:25
people are going to remember this, right?
01:27
Kaitlin Clark versus Angel Reese.
01:30
They put it in the regional final.
01:32
Why?
01:33
Ratings.
01:34
And they did the same thing again, putting the two best players.
01:38
There was no way, no way, that if you put USC as a one seed,
01:42
that you had them, Connecticut, as the seventh best team in the country.
01:47
That doesn't make sense if you do the snake in regard to the top four seeds.
01:51
They did this because they wanted to put the two best players on the planet
01:55
in the regional final for ratings.
01:57
Guess what?
01:58
It backfired.
01:59
NCAA, do a better job next year.
02:01
Four regional sites, properly seed the teams.
02:04
Bad for us that you didn't play, but great for basketball
02:07
that we got Paige Peckers bowling and being completely healthy.
02:10
All right, coach.
02:13
I have a future in UCLA to win this thing.
02:15
How secure should I feel right now?
02:18
Well, listen, they got the biggest kid in the country in Lauren Batts,
02:22
six foot seven, and Zeno.
02:25
When she gets to her spot, you know what she reminds me of?
02:28
I'm thinking about it.
02:29
Zach Eady.
02:30
When Zach Eady gets low, deep position, right,
02:32
and she can get over that left shoulder for a jump hook,
02:36
it's the most unstoppable shot in college basketball.
02:40
And, you know, they have also a great guard, Kiki Rice.
02:44
Corey Close is a fantastic coach.
02:46
To me, the favorite still is UConn because of the style of play they play
02:51
and the way they're playing.
02:52
But for a long time, Mark, a long time,
02:55
they were the best team in the country, UCLA,
02:58
including two wins over USC during the season.
03:01
Corey Close has done a hell of a job with this team,
03:04
and they will be in it.
03:05
The team that, to me, I'm not as big a believer in
03:11
is I just, I don't think South Carolina's right, right?
03:14
They lose all these kids to the pros over the years.
03:17
And eventually, Mark, it catches up.
03:20
The issue with South Carolina is they're starting Johnson and Papao in the backcourt.
03:25
Malaysia Fulwale as a sophomore is their best guard.
03:28
And I think Dawn is trying to balance, like, loyalty with talent.
03:36
If Fulwale starts to play his 30 minutes, everybody's in trouble.
03:39
I don't know if that happens.
03:40
That's why UConn is minus money to win a national championship.
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